Help! Fleas

[steppemum]

So, rescue dog came with a flea collar, 6 months ago. I had to chuck it out after a close encounter with a cow pat after about 3 months. Then about 1 month ago I realised he had fleas.
Vet gave us a spot on treatment. 2 weeks later, we realise house is crawling.
I have washed all dogs bedding and ds bedding (the only bed he goes on) at 60, and sprayed the whole house, hoovered etc. Flea combed dog and he is still crawling. The spot on treatment hadn't worked.
We read all the stuff about dosages, and remembered that a lot had soaked into/rubbed off on his collar, so we took a risk and repeated the spot on stuff.
I re-washed all bedding and re-sprayed house.
ds has sprayed and hoovered his room every 48 hours, and he still has large adult fleas jumping on his feet.
I have sprayed the whole house 3 times in 10 days.

We are being bitten to death, the spot on stuff hasn't worked and the vet says we can't use anything else on the dog, I am flea combing him every day and getting loads of adults off every time, it doesn't seem to get any less. They are not tiny newly hatched ones, they are big buggers.

The spray we are using is Strike Back and is supposed to be industrial strength.

We are not even making a dent in the flea problem.

Added to that, you can't use the strike back on beds, so I have nothing to spray on the mattress, I can wash bedding but not the duvet itself.

Any advice very welcome. We are desperate!

It's likely the dog keeps being re-infested because fleas are being missed in the house.

You can get herbal flea stuff called Billy No Mates by CSJ which comes in flakey form to sprinkle on the dogs food. That's supposed to be a deterrent to fleas and tics.

With regards to the house, I think I'd call in a professional to have the whole place fumigated.

Which spot on treatment is it that they gave you?

Are they saying that you can't use anything else because you need to wait a while before changing or that they don't supply anything else (because there are other things to try as we use a tablet for our dog)?

We use Advocate on Eric (vet prescribes it) he did get fleas when we were using Frontline but haven't had a problem since. We bought Indorex to spray the house probably unnecessarily because Eric is white we spotted the fleas early and so never saw them again once the Advocate went on.

failing, I agree that the house/dog are reinfesting each other, but I treated and combed and sprayed all on the same day, and it didn't make a dent.

Bitey, they say I can't use any other treatment as he has already been treated, so anything else may overdose him. So we can't use the tablet until the month is up and he is due another flea treatment.
The spot on is Prinovox.

The total irony, is that we have a cat as well. I did his advocate treatment on same day as the dog. They don't interact or sleep in same places. Cat is flea free. Completely. I combed him lats night out of curiosity. Not a flea to be seen. We use advocate as over the counter stuff didn't work for him, so I went straight for vet strength stuff with the dog

Ah I did wonder if it was because he is still 'dosed up' even though it isn't working very well.

Any chance you could contain the dog in one room, treat the house and make sure as not to keep cross contaminating and then maybe you might be able to get on top of it?

Wish I had insisted on advocate for the dog now. I just thought the vet would know best.

With the cat, even when we had a massive flea problem (because we had forgotten to treat him ) as soon as the cat was treated, I sprayed house once and that was that. No fleas. I assumed it was because they jumped on the cat, bit him and died.

we sort of have been doing the containment thing.
Dog is banned from all bedrooms as the moment. Which is why it is particularly frustrating for ds that he has no dog with him and he has sprayed and hoovered and is still being eaten alive.

Dog is mostly in the dining room (carpet) and kitchen (no carpet) and we've been keeping him there and trying to get rid of them everywhere else.

The only time I had an infestation of fleas was when I moved into a new house which had been previously occupied by cats. It was so bad we had to get pest control in but I am not sure how that would work with having a dog and cat in regards to the chemicals they use.

Oral Bravecto from vets is good for cats and dogs. Lasts 3 months.
R.I.P fleas spray for the house is good too.
Dettol laundry cleanser for loose covers.
Oral anti histamine for the family to deal with bites. Plastic bags with rubber bands round legs to stop fleas jumping up you....temporary but works.
Good luck!

Buy some flea bombs. You have to close all the windows and set it off. You can only really do it if you go out for several hours.

Wash and comb dog and get a flea treatment from the vet that is a tablet. It is more than likely he hasn't had the dosage as you explained.

loose covers - you've reminded me. I haven't washed the sofa covers.

really hard to strip and wash and I can't wash them at 60, and the dog isn't ever allowed on the sofa.

I'm going to have to do them aren't I?

Git to go and buy more house spray today, so might try a different brand - will try RIP. Thanks.

The biggest problem I think is getting them off the dog for the next month until he is allowed more treatment.
Flea combing everyday just isn't touching it.
maybe I should dip the flea comb in RIP first....

Right, off to take said dog out for a walk before it gets too hot (although he is lying flat out asleep on floor, has obviously given up on me going out as we're a bit late)

I've heard indorex spray is good for homes

hmm, I'd forgotten about flea bombs. Wonder if that may be what I need to do in ds room.

Try diatomaceous earth - it's a natural product which you can put on your soft furnishings, dog bed, etc, it kills fleas by drying out their skeletons. Works wonders and no chemicals :)

Thanks Sarah - do you know where I can get it from?

Health food shops (for human food grade - it's got lots of benefits) or Ebay/Amazon.

Ok, update.
So I was on my way to Pet's at Home and decided I should actually go back to the vet.

I arrived and explained that the stuff they had given me isn't working. (OK, I had a rant, politely, but it was a rant )
vet came out to talk to me and was very helpful.

He has a tablet he can take that will kill all adult fleas on him right now, but it is only for now, so if a new one jumps on this afternoon, it won't kill it. He can have one everyday if necessary (not that we would do that) That is very helpful, as it will get rid of all the one on him.

As to the house, she recommended the spray indorex which pp mentioned upthread. It kills adults, larvae and eggs, but not the pupae, if the pupae then hatch they are infertile and should die when they bite the dog. It last 12 months.

The spot on stuff he had was the same chemical as advocate.

So, given that we have to clear up everything so the whole floor can be sprayed (again) hoover, strip all bedding (again, my kids have never had such clean sheets) and wash everything at 60 and then treat dog, and then spray house and then LEAVE whole house for 1.5 hours, dh and I decided we would do it tomorrow morning. I will do the house while he walks the dog, and when he gets back we will go in the car somewhere with dog.

Let's hope that is enough to knock it on the head once and for all.

I recognise the indorex actually and know I've used it in the past.

So, I decided I really ought to wash the sofa covers too, instead of just spraying them.

I am supposed to be working from home. Working in an office never gets side tracked into flea killing does it.